Today we are diving into what we believe is one of the most culturally significant wheel manufacturers ever. Sure, you could make arguments for others, but it would be heresy to say BBS isn’t one of the top wheel brands

The history of BBS

In 1970 BBS was founded by Heinrich Baumgartner and Klaus Brand. With their names you get Baumgartner + Brand + Schiltach to arrive at BBS. Schiltach is a city about four hours south of the infamous Nürburgring. If their surnames didn’t qualify them enough, these gentlemen had some accolades to back them up.

Mr. Baumgartner had quite the track record with performance vehicles. Starting with a shop in Schiltach, he began tuning and racing a 50’s  Glas coupé, building a name for his little shop. This shop quickly became the defacto place for amateur racers to have their vehicles serviced. When BMW eventually bought out Glas in 1962, he adapted his skills, striving to provide the same quality of service.

Around this time he came together with his friend, Klaus Brand, and BBS began to take shape. They didn’t start with wheels. They started by making FRP aero parts for BMW and Ford for the European Touring Car Championship, and guess what? They were pretty frickin good at it.

The first BBS wheel(s)

In the pursuit of making the ultimate race car, they said ‘Why don’t we make some lightweight wheels?’. In 1973 Baumgartner had figured it out; in an effort to save weight he designed a three-piece thin-spoke wheel - the first to appear from the future legends BBS. This is sometimes claimed to be the first 3P wheel, although SSR has something to say about that. It didn’t take long for the wheels to catch on in the world of motorsports, but Brand & Baumgartner didn’t stop there.

By this point BBS was the global brand for racing wheels; but they had larger aspirations. A turning point was when they poached an employee from Daimler by the name of Martin Braungart, a man with experience in Ford and BMW motorsport programs. In addition to the new recruit, they teamed up with a company called Washi Beam - a legendary aluminum manufacturer in Japan. Washi had just what BBS needed to get to the next level. In 1983 they collaborated, forming BBS Germany and BBS Japan.

The road to street use

In 1984, a year later, the conglomerate launched the most famous wheel BBS has ever produced, possibly the most legendary 3P wheel of all time - the RS. Only about 200 sets were made in the first production run. They were extremely light (for the time) and met Germany’s rigorous testing standards, meaning they were legal for street use. Brand & Baumgartner had realized their goal.

Only a couple years later, in 1986 they won the grand prize at an automotive technology show; you mighta heard of it - SEMA. And this was before SEMA became an influencer build-off show. BBS of America took home the grand prize for technological innovation. This effectively showed the public why BBS can charge such a premium for their wheels.

Making wheels for OEs

So now they’re making wheels for motorsport and the humble car enthusiast like us, where could they go from here? OEMs. They made wheels for Godzilla; the Nissan R32 GTR got equipped with wheels straight from BBS. After Nissan did some testing on the Nürburgring they said ‘hell yeah’, giving BBS the nod to make wheels for the subsequent R33/R34 models.

BBS had caught the attention of Ferrari, who gave them a call that would change racing forever. In 1990 the beginning of an era was born. Ferrari observed BBS’s racing pedigree and proposed they make wheels for the most prestigious of all, Formula 1. Shortly after their talks, BBS set to work making the first ever forged magnesium wheels, 10% lighter than cast Mg wheels. Indycar saw what BBS was doing for Ferrari/F1 and wanted in. BBS started supplying DTM and Indy500 teams.

No doubt, they were the #1 performing race wheel in the world. Ferrari can attribute some of their success to this while dominating from 2000-2004. There wasn’t much competition. Soon BBS was supplying wheels to majority of the F1 teams. It wasn’t overnight, but in 25 years the company had come a long way from a shed in Schiltach.

Banger designs from this millennium

The 2000’s carry on like normal. BBS releases a new line called the RE-MG, a publicly available magnesium wheel. Mg is highly corrosive. To combat this BBS put a special coating that at least slowed the inevitable corrosion. However, these wheels were still delicate, and as such BBS only let a limited number of dealers carry this line.

Another release from the 2000’s was the RI-A, one of our favorite monobloc designs.

And then out of nowhere..

Despite the insane history and legacy, nearly 50 years from the day of inception, BBS announced its unfortunate bankruptcy. This is when KW, another amazing German brand, stepped up to save it. A year after the acquisition, BBS/KW dropped one of the hardest split 5 spoke wheels of all time: the FI-R was a rendition of their popular RI-A. Many rep brands have tried to reproduce it, but it's not easy. The FI-R is forged, then finish machined on a 5 axis CNC, naturally, that reflects in the costs - about $2600 per wheel… starting price.

Our top 5 BBS picks

5. RI-A - These have given birth to whole companies of people trying to copy them, so, they must have done something right

4. LM-R - Super aggressive but surprisingly underrated, looks really good on Euro cars. Classic U-spoke design

3. FI-R - Not budget friendly by any means, but that just makes for a bigger flex. The creativity on these wheels was great, especially for something produced in the last 20 years

2. LM - Best by test. You’ll find these on everything. You might say they’re played out, but there’s a reason they’re so popular

1. RS - This wheel founded the legendary company we know today. Without it, who knows what woulda happened to BBS. The RS was discontinued in 1995 with demands for larger diameters and updated technology. If you like the RS design, check out the modernized Super-RS.

The best place to buy any BBS wheels

Got a car with some sweet BBS wheels?

Feel free to share it in our gallery, you’re automatically entered for a chance to play in our Fitment Battles.

Or, if you don’t have BBS… yet … get some inspiration!